A/N: I just wrote this. It has been in my mind for some time now, and I wanted it out of my mind. lol. :)
Disclaimer: Do not own Phantom Of The Opera, Swan Lake, Titanic, Palais Garnier.
My native language is not english, so bare with me.
Read and review. Thanks :)
Chapter 1:
Lucy was getting ready in her room, she was very excited. She and her friend Anna was going to watch Swan Lake at The Palais Garnier tonight.
"So Anna, are you going to be ready soon?" Lucy asked as she looked at herself in the mirror, fixing her dark brown hair.
"Yes I'm ready as ready can be" Anna said smiling, and took a pair of earrings on the vanity table in front her.
"Alright then, lets go." Lucy said as she took her jacket and handbag.
"Yes. I'm so excited to go see this ballet. It is rather awesome that it's even being shown at the famous Palais Garnier...You know... The phantom of the Opera. Supposedly he haunted that opera many years ago according to a journalist." Anna said as she made some scary boogeyman noises.
"Yes, Anna. I know about that. I have even seen the musical and various movies/series about it. It's my favorite musical, you know that." She huffed and pushed her friend lightly on her arm. They both giggled and went to the kitchen where Lucy took the tickets from the counter and put them in her bag. When that was done, they both went out the door.
They took the metro to The Opera Garnier. When they came face to face with the beautiful building they couldn't help but stop and admire it.
"Wow. This is really amazing. When you see it with your own eyes, and not just on a picture, it's really something you can't describe. It's a beautiful building. And oh my, so grand." Anna said in awe.
"Yes it really is a very beautiful and grand building. He was one fine architect that good monsieur Garnier. I really like this kind of architecture. I believe it is called Beaux-Arts or something. "
Lucy answered with a smile. And she took hold of Annas hand and they went up the stairs and into the grand foyer.
They both stopped and took it all in. It was a sight you could describe with one word: Amazing.
"Oh my, I can't believe we are really here. It's so amazing. Lucy. This is a dream come true, really it is."
"He he. Yes it is, Anna. I agree, I don't believe that we are here at all. It's just one of those things you need to see before you die. Especially if you are a so-called phan." She said with a knowing look in her eyes.
"Come on we have to find our seats" Lucy said and dragged Anna along to the ticketmasters.
There were many people attending today, so the queues were long.
"I guess we have to wait now" Anna said annoyed.
"Yes, I guess so. But you should expect that at a theater. And not just that. It is the most famous opera house, because of the Phantom story. I do wonder if they have problems selling tickets for Box 5." Lucy smirked.
Anna giggled. "I'm not surprised that someone could get an idea for a story with a so-called ghost. It is pretty dark and gloomy. And if you take a look over there." Anna pointed to a set of stairs going both up and down. "It looks rather scary and dark, where the stairs go down below. And there's even a stop sign that says no entry. Hmm, that's weird and a bit creepy. Don't you think, Lucy?" Anna looked at Lucy as she started biting her nails. A bad habit, when something bothered her.
"Ah Anna, come on. Don't be foolish. I just think it's because you need a tour guide if you need to go down below. Nothing more nothing less." Lucy said reassuring, patting Anna on her back.
At long last it was their turn to receive the seating tickets. But of course all the normal seats were taken, as there were so many people attending today. The ticketmaster only had one box available for them. And that was of course the famous Box 5, none the less.
Both Anna and Lucy looked at each other with a paranoid expression, but Lucy turned to the ticketmaster and told him, they would take it.
"Anna, even though it's the so called phantoms box, he does not exist. Even if he did he wouldn't be alive." Lucy laughed at Annas paranoia. Though Lucy couldn't help but feel a bit paranoid herself. Even though she knew the phantom didn't exist, she didn't like the idea of trespassing in his box.
As they went through the masses of people, to get to the auditorium to find their box 5. They stopped as their eyes caught sight of the famous and beautiful chandelier hanging above the many seats on the ground floor.
"Wow. This is amazing." Lucy said as she looked up towards the great chandelier.
"Yes, it's fantastic." Anna exclaimed and clapped her hands together enthusiastically.
"I would love to have such a chandelier myself at home. It would be the most beautiful thing to have." She said smiling with a dreamy look in her eyes.
"Oh Anna. You can be such a daydreaming schoolgirl, sometimes." Lucy said shaking her head.
"I know" She giggled.
"Well, I guess we must go to the infamous box 5. Come on" Lucy said and dragged Anna along the many seats on the ground floor and up the stairs towards the boxes on the upper floors.
As they looked for the number 5. They came upon a group of young girls talking about the Phantom of the Opera.
Lucy shook her head and said to Anna: " The usual phan-girls probably" they giggled themselves and they found their infamous box 5. As they stood there. The group of young girls saw them.
"Oh, there's someone who has been assigned to the phantoms box. Ooh creepy" One girl shouted.
"Watch out for the phantoms wrath" Another shouted.
Both Lucy and Anna shook their heads at them, and Lucy took hold of the doorknob to open the door. But as she did so, a cold chill went through the slightly open door. Lucy thought it was odd and a little creepy. But she shrugged it off and went into the box, with Anna tagging along behind her.
Anna closed the door behind them, and ventured to the red plush seats. Lucy did the same and sat down in the chair to the left and closest to the stage.
The view was great from this box. No wonder that the phantom chose this box to watch performances. If you believed the story to be true.
"Hey Anna?" Lucy turned to Anna
"Yes Lucy." She said and turned towards Lucy.
"When I turned the doorknob and the door was slightly open. I felt a cold chill coming through the crack. I think that's very odd. Why would there be any source of wind in a box in a theater? Unless there's something we don't know about..." Lucy turned her head towards the wall where red curtains were draped across.
Anna was looking at Lucy's face and saw various expressions. Both curiosity and fear.
A chill ran down her spine as she herself began examining the box.
The box was a good hiding spot if you needed to hide. If you didn't lean too far towards the stage you wouldn't be able to be seen. That is, if you chose the chair to the far left. Red curtains were draped along the walls, that helped make the box comfortable, but also make it easier to hide. There wasn't much light. Well that is to say, only one light worked, oddly enough. The rest of the lights didn't work. The one light that worked was sitting behind the left chair on the wall about 1 m above the floor. Lucy thought it odd, that the rest of the lights hadn't been repaired. She told Anna about it, and Anna nodded to say that it was indeed odd. But as they both seemed to be in their own little worlds, the lights in the auditorium dimmed and the curtain rose.
Lucy and Anna had been best friends for many years. 7 years to be exact. They had met through school and they had immediately found a friend in each other. Lucy was the more bold and curious one as for Anna was the more timid and cautious one. They found many of their interest to be the same. One of those were The Phantom Of The Opera. They had both seen the musical and the movie. And they both loved the story.
As they both loved The Phantom of The Opera, they had made plans to go to Paris some day, and go see the Palais Garnier. They were both British. Lucy was the taller dark brown-haired girl at 25. Anna was the 24 year old girl with red hair. She was not as tall as her friend. They both had green eyes, though Lucy's were dark green and Anna's were a lighter green.
The day came, when they had bought tickets to go to Paris. A one week vacation. They were both very excited and couldn't wait to be able to stand under The Eiffel Tower, or go see The Mona Lisa at Louvre, or go "say hello" to the phantom at the Palais Garnier.
"So...what do you think of the Swan Lake."? Anna asked Lucy as she turned her head from the stage, as it was intermission.
"Well I like it. Swan Lake is one of those ballets you can actually enjoy. Many people including myself, usually thinks ballet is boring." Lucy said smiling.
"Yea. I know what you mean. I liked it too, though I think I'll always love the musicals more." She said and turned her head towards the stage again. People were moving out of the auditorium as they wanted to either get some refreshments at the opera's bar, or go to the toilet to relieve themselves, before the show would start again.
"Hey Anna?, I think I'll go look for someone working at the opera to tell them of the lights in here that's not working. Just to be helpful, you know. I guess they would be grateful if people told them about things that didn't work and stuff." Lucy said and got up from her chair and went to the door. She waved at Anna and went out.
"Alright, see you in a bit." Anna said waving back.
Lucy went down the hall from the box, to look for anyone that could be a worker.
It wasn't long before she came to a door, where she eyed a worker. The clue was the clothing.
She hurriedly strode towards the man, which was at the moment talking to a woman.
As the woman was done and left, Lucy quickly asked the worker to wait, before he himself could walk away.
"Excuse me sir?"
"Yes, how may I help you? Miss." He said turning towards her.
"Well..I just wanted to say, that all the lights in box 5, except one at the far left doesn't work. I don't know if I should talk to you about it. But I just wanted to make sure that you knew about it." She said smiling.
"Ah damn, not again." The worker sighed.
"Again?" Lucy asked perplexed.
"Yes again. As soon as we get the lights working again. Something causes them to stop working again. So it's pretty useless to start repairing them, as they will most likely break again and stop working." The worker said with a slight annoyed sigh.
"But thank you for the notice anyway. We are aware of the problem in that box." He said as he turned to leave.
"No problem, sir". Lucy said as she turned around to go back towards the auditorium and box 5.
This is very odd, and very creepy. How can it be possible, that the same lights will stop working every time they put up new ones. But one special light seems to work, regardless. Is it even possible? Well possible, ha! I guess if the phantom is present anything can be possible.
Lucy thought, as she walked down the hall to box 5.
As she came to the door with the number 5, she entered and Anna turned her head, and asked her about the so called "lights-not-working-in-box-5" trip. Lucy told her the weird information, and Anna looked a bit scared turning her head towards the one light that worked.
"Ah come on Anna. Nothing to be afraid of. I'm sure it's only old electric wires that doesn't want to cooperate or something. I'm sure" She said reassuring. Though she herself seemed a bit if not more paranoid now. She knew the phantom wasn't real and could never be. If he were, he would be dead anyway. But she was paranoid, as you would be, if something weird was going on in a place, a phantom was thought to haunt. So naturally you would be paranoid. The same paranoia people would have, being on a ship called Titanic 2 sailing from Southampton to New York.
As Lucy seated herself in the chair, as the curtain rose for the next act of the ballet, she couldn't help her eyes now and again drift towards the light on the wall to the left. But as soon as the ballet began, Anna and Lucy turned their heads towards the stage.
As the curtain came to a close. Both Anna and Lucy together with the rest of the auditorium gave a standing ovation.
"This was a very nice show, I must say Lucy." Anna said and smiled.
"Yes it was. Really nice ballet it is, with beautiful music." Lucy nodded as she continued. "Those old composers were great. They made some really amazing music."
As the lights slowly turned on in the auditorium, Lucy and Anna stopped their clapping and turned towards the door.
"Well, I guess we should be going, Anna."
"Yes of course." Anna said and turned towards the door. But before she could turn the doorknob, Lucy told her to wait.
"Anna, please wait. I have something to do before we go out, alright?"
"Okay" Anna said turning towards Lucy with curious eyes. "What is it, you need to do?"
"Well, Anna. I know it seems very stupid and paranoid, but I will write a note to the phantom and leave it in the box. And yes I know. I know it seems so very stupid and childish, as we both know he doesn't exist. But I just have that feeling that I just need to write him a note." Lucy said laughing a little.
"He he Lucy. And you say I'm paranoid? But it's not me that will write a note to the famous phantom, but you." Anna said and giggled.
" Yea I know it's stupid." She said and took a scrap of paper from her notebook in her bag and began writing.
Dear monsieur Phantom
I'm sorry that my friend and I has trespassed where we are not to trespass, but as there were no normal seats left, we were left with your box. Again I'm sorry for the inconvenience it has caused.
I hope that we will be safe from your wrath as I hope the opera staff will be out of harms way.
Sincerely,
An attendant in box 5
She finished her note and put it on the chair on the left.
"Okay Anna, I'm ready to go now." Lucy said and smiled.
"Okay! Goodie." Anna said as she turned to the door once again and turned the knob.
They were halfway out of the theater, when Lucy noticed her jacket was missing.
"Ah damn. I forgot my jacket in box 5." She told Anna
"I'll be right back Anna, I'll just get my jacket." She said and ran towards the doors to the auditorium.
On her way she excused herself many times in the crowded theater as she ran to the boxes on the upper balconies.
Oh God, I'm so stupid. Typical me to forget something. She thought as she came to the infamous box 5.
She opened the door, but as she came closer to her chair where her jacket was. She saw something that she would never believe, nor would anyone else. She just stood there staring at it for what seemed like an eternity.
Well I'd be damn. What is this? A joke. A so-called prank done by one of the employees?.
It must be. This can't be right. She thought as she picked up a white rose with a black ribbon around the stem.
She sniffed the rose, and it smelled wonderful. As she stood there with the rose in her hand, she thought about the different meanings of roses.
She knew the phantom used red roses with black ribbons, but they usually meant something in the likes of love and romance. Hmm.. what would a white rose mean? Aah.. I remember now. But interesting none the less. White roses means something like secrecy, innocence, and "I'm worthy of you". She concluded that this person, whoever it was. Was saying in the lines of: Keep this a secret, but also saying that I was innocent in the way that I couldn't prevent the use of his box. As well as no harm would come to me.
I wonder if the note is actually gone. She thought and went to look for it under the two chairs and look for it on the floor. But yes, it was gone apparently. She mused
Well this was interesting to say the least. She thought and took the jacket from the chair and pulled it on.
As she went to the door with the white rose in hand, a cold chill went through the box. She pulled the jacket tighter, and started to walk out of the box. But a smell that would make every phan-girl squeal in delight went through the air. The famous smell of cologne, candle smoke and spice?
Suddenly scared of a phantom jumping out on her with his punjab lasso at the ready, she quickly went through the door, and ran down the hall towards the exit.
A/N: Palais Garnier build between 1861-1874. Architectural style: Beaux-Arts and Second Empire. Architect: Charles Garnier 1825-1898.
A/N: Swan Lake composed between 1875-1876. Show style: Ballet. Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 1840-1893
A/N: White roses and their meaning: Purity, Innocence, Silence, Secrecy, Reverence, Humility, Youthfulness, Heavenly, "I am worthy of you"